"Ironworkers' Union," he nodded. "After enough of 'em, a man begins to develop an ear."
* * * * * * * * * *
The Iron Workers Union wasn't founded until 1896. So Nate Privett doesn't have as good an ear as he thinks he does. Or maybe it's even better and he can hear future bombings? Being that Chicago was a burgeoning battleground for unions and workers' rights, and because it was the first place to truly begin building iron and steel buildings (due to a new ordnance prohibiting wooden buildings in downtown Chicago after the Great Fire in 1871), a movement among ironworkers had begun and maybe they were calling themselves the "Ironworkers' Union" before the actual Iron Workers Union that was formed in 1896 and exists today.
The essence of Nate's statement is that workers from different unions and associations, all being used and bled dry by employers, were using bombs in their fight for 8 hour days, health & safety, and living wages. And because they all made their own bombs, and bombings were so frequent, Nate now had an ear for it.
Mostly it just sounds to me like Nate is playing up the chaos because he's one of those jerks definitely on the side of the employers and big business. I mean, it's not like he's going to make any money off of immigrant workers barely being paid enough to take care of their families.
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